It's been well over six months since I last posted! Why? Well, because I have been knitting myself crazy of course! I am always knitting either my personal knitting projects, for my Etsy store or my charity knitting. To top it all off I recently purchased an embroidery machine, so the adness has escalated.
Shortly after my last post on here, I began the 2014 Rose City Yarn Crawl KAL. I knew I had little chance of attending this year, but my heart is always with Portland so I decided to join the fun. The project was a bit of a challenge but well worth it since I love the end result. I have been using my shawl a lot now that summer has arrived since Rocky Mountain nights are always cool.

Roses and rain

I added beads to the last section of the shawl. It was very time consuming but I love the results and am happy to be using another new knitting skill. I used Anzula's Nebula fingering weight yarn that I had in my stash! I absolutely LOVE Anzula. It's all about the sparkle. The purple yearn in the shawl is darker and more muted in person and prettier than the picture.
Just before the holidays I got a wild hair and decided to knit a winter cowl and matching hat for myself. I used some wonderful Classic Elite yarn that I purchased at one of my favorite Portland stores called "Close Knits". Because the yarn was a bit bulky, the set knit up in no time and I was able to wear it to my friends Yule party. I was nice and warm as I stood by the fire outside, celebrating the season. I plan to make this set again as a gift to someone for this upcoming Yule. Keeping fingers crossed on that promise.

Nice and warm

Once the new year rolled around, I was determined to do a project from a pattern and yarn I had purchased almost a year ago, once again at "Close Knits" in Portland. I found the Classic Elite cotton yarn with no problem but had a harder time hunting down the pattern. I finally found it and made a Sweetheart Tea Cozy. I love the red and white combo for Valentine's Day. The pattern was a tiny bit confusing but super simple and fast to make. The problem though is that it turned out a bit bigger than I thought so my teapot is completely covered. I actually stuck it on my head and thought it might look nice as a hat but then decided that I would need to knit a cowl to go with it first.

Tea cozy or hat?

I currently have three active WIPs. I am just about finished with my second sweater. For some reason I am hung up on getting the sleeves done. Hopefully I will be able to post the finished pictures of it soon. I am more than halfway through a shawl called "Dream Stripes" that I am knitting with yet more Nebula yarn that I just had to have when I saw it at the trunk show at my favorite local shop, Fancy Tiger Crafts. Finally, Stephen West came out with a Summer KAL where he gives you a choice of three different patterns. I chose "Vertices Unite". It looks like I will need to keep plenty of chilled martinis on hand this summer as I knit away on my back porch. Heaven!